Green Goals and Great Opportunities: Canada’s Environmental Labour Demand Forecast to 2033.
Calgary, AB, May 31st, 2024 – ECO Canada, a leading organization dedicated to advancing environmental careers and the environmental workforce, has released its latest national research findings on “ Green Goals and Great Opportunities: Canada’s Environmental Labour Demand Forecast to 2033.” This report sheds light on the current state of Canada’s cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary environmental workforce, by providing a snapshot of employment and hiring needs to 2033.
“The consequences of climate change are unprecedented for our population, the environment, and our economy. By supporting research and reports like the one from ECO Canada, we are working together to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. These findings in the environmental sector will help us to address labour shortages and to achieve Canada’s goal of a net zero economy.” – Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages.
This Canada environmental labour demand outlook provides valuable insights into both the environmental workforce today and its evolution throughout the next decade of employment for the country overall, by industry, by specialization, by occupation, and by region.
Report highlights:
- A growing workforce…: our outlook estimates that, over the next decade, the workforce will require 480,510 additional environmental workers across all industries.
…Generating labour shortages: these job openings will lead to labour market shortages for certain occupations like management occupations, occupations requiring a university degree, a college diploma, or an apprenticeship.
- Filling the retirement gap: one in five Canadian workers will be reaching retirement age within the next decade, with two-thirds of these job openings requiring post-secondary education or managerial expertise. The skill gaps resulting from the incoming wave of retirements are compounded by the workforce demands of the expanding environmental sector.
- Workforce Diversity: while immigration will contribute to filling some of these gaps, engaging underrepresented groups in the Canadian workforce and providing access to adequate training will be crucial in ensuring that the skills of the environmental workforce are aligned with the available positions.
The data and insights from this report can help inform business, policy, program, and career decisions. It can help bust myths and reveal opportunities for industries, employers, government, communities, academia, and individuals. After all, environmental talent in every industry and discipline will be essential for Canada to reach a sustainable, prosperous, inclusive, and equitable future.
Download the full National report here.
Because the environmental labour needs can vary from one province to another considering specificities, ECO Canada has also released targeted environmental labour demand outlooks for the Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada provinces. These reports can be downloaded as follow:
- Download the full Ontario report: Ontario’s Cross-sectoral and Multidisciplinary Environmental Workforce: A Snapshot of Employment and Hiring Needs to 2033 | ECO Canada
- Download the full Quebec report: Quebec’s Cross-sectoral and Multidisciplinary Environmental Workforce: A Snapshot of Employment and Hiring Needs to 2033 | ECO Canada
- Download the full Atlantic Canada report: Atlantic Canada’s Cross-sectoral and Multidisciplinary Environmental Workforce: A Snapshot of Employment and Hiring Needs to 2033 | ECO Canada
These reports were funded by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program.
“The opinions and interpretations in the publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.”
